Labour MP Rob Marris cautioned for damaging van

A Labour MP has been cautioned for causing criminal damage to a van as he dashed to board a bus.

By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent

11:53PM BST 04 Jun 2008

Rob Marris, the MP for Wolverhampton South West, caused £350 damage when he climbed over the bonnet of the parked white van.

Initially he denied the offence, but admitted his guilt to police before he was due to appear at Coventry magistrates' court. The 53-year-old, a trained solicitor and son of a magistrate, accepted a conditional caution, which does not count as a criminal conviction.

Mr Marris has also been ordered to write a letter of apology to the van's owner, and to pay for repairs to the vehicle's bonnet.

Colin Molloy, the district CPS prosecutor, said: "There were two vehicles parked in front of a bus stop with a small gap between them." Others had walked through the gap but Mr Marris chose not to, Mr Molloy said. "The van was not parked to his liking," he added.

Mr Marris, the parliamentary private secretary to Shaun Woodward, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said: "I accept that what I did was rather unconventional, but the small van was needlessly preventing safe access for boarding the bus." He said damaging the van was "never my intention".